Twelve days of Christmas
by bookaddict43
Summary: An obligatory Christmas fiction in which Jayne and Kaylee find trouble and something else.
1. Chapter 1

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a partridge in a pear tree

Kaylee had been thinkin' on Christmas for a while now. She always got real homesick at Christmas time, remembering the good times with her family; and this year was worse than ever. She thought everyone, even the captain needed a bit of lift right now. They were still tense from the disaster with Early and she at least was missin' 'Nara.

So when they hit planet side she approached Mal 'bout it. He was, as usual uncooperative. "We really don't need a celebration do we?" he asked

He always thought that Christmas or any other celebrations were more trouble than they were worth. But he could see that Kaylee had her heart set on some sort of fun. She was lookin' at him with sad eyes, lips trembling, all set to start beggin'. He couldn't stand the beggin' and the tears that followed.

The crew could probably do with a bit of a break he decided. "Alright mei mei, but you've only got three hours. Then we gotta get going. Jayne's got my list; you'd best go with him." He grinned at her and ruffled her hair. "Don't be spending too much money."

"I won't Captain." Great, she knew the beggin' look would get him. Kaylee stood on tiptoe kissed him on the cheek and sped away to find Jayne before he could change his mind.

"Hey Jayne" Mal heard her call "Captain says I can come shoppin' with you."

Kaylee didn't mind going shoppin' with Jayne she reflected as they walked through the markets. Aside from Inara, who weren't with them anymore, he was the one she'd choose to shop with. Wash was fun, but hopeless with the shopkeepers. Zoë weren't that interested in siftin' through all the pretties. She felt that Simon was always lookin' down at things. When River came, ya spent so much time watchin' her that no shoppin' got done. Mal was just plain impatient.

Jayne was more indulgent than the captain. He didn't mind goin' into dress shops with her. 'Cause the girls in the shops always ogled him and he liked that. He'd stand round for hours while she talked 'bout parts with other mechanics. When it was time to haggle he'd loom up beside her and scare the shopkeeper's so she'd get a good bargain. He didn't even have to talk, just stood there, hand touching his gun, mean expression on his face, just like he was doin' now.

"That was great Jayne" she was thrilled "We got lessn' half price. Now I've got extra money to spend for Christmas."

He raised his eyebrows at her "Christmas?" he should have known she was plannin' some sort of foolishness. She'd been hummin' some happy little song all mornin', always a sign that Kaylee was up to somethin.'

"Captain said we could have a celebration." She bounced along beside him happily. "Ain't that shiny?"

"Shiny" he agreed. Christmas didn't mean much to him no more but in his opinion anything that made her that happy lookin' was shiny. "Best we finish Mal's list first, dong ma?"

"Dong ma." She smiled

"I found a perfect candidate, a real moneymaker" announced Nate "come look."

He and Red headed out to the streets of the marketplace. "Over there" he pointed.

As Red looked he started to grin, the big man stood head and shoulders above most of the crowd in the market. He had a fighters' body and was well armed his visible weapons were a sidearm and a knife and was carrying a crate on his shoulder with effortless ease. "'Bout time we caught a break. Ya picked real well, Nate" he said "That 'un will give us a good show and we can make us some coin".

"Looks like he's got a partner "said Nate gesturing to the girl at the big guy's side.

"Bring her too, might be some added value in two fighters." mused Red.

Mal was pacing up and down in the cargo bay "That hun dan Jayne, he's late. I need Kaylee "back here fixin' the engine."

"He don't usually keep Kaylee out sir," said Zoë "Maybe somethins happened?"

"What's happened is Jayne's of on some scam of his own and taken Kaylee with him" Mal snapped, "or he's off whoring somewhere"

"That's not likely Mal" protested Wash "He wouldn't take Kaylee with him if he was goin' whoring."

"Or involve her in any scam" added the shepherd tryin' as usual to make peace.

"Who knows what he'd be stupid enough to do" Simon was scathing as usual when talking about Jayne.

"Wash stay here. You too Simon keep an eye on River" Mal ordered "Zoë, Shepherd come with me. We're goin' lookin' for them." He strode out the others following.

Three hours later Mal was more annoyed than ever, but coming round to Zoë's way of thinking.

"He'd been everywhere that he thought Jayne and Kaylee would go to fill the list he'd given them. As far as he could tell, they had done what he'd asked. The last shopkeeper he spoke to said that the pair had been talking about a drink at a bar. After lots of asking around he found the bar they'd had a drink and game of pool at. He knew it was the right one cause there was broken chairs everywhere and some of the patrons looked the worst for wear. Seems Jayne had taken exception to some fool who touched Kaylee.

"That was 'bout four hours ago" he told the shepherd when they met up "Far as I can tell no-one's seen them since."

"I did ask at the whorehouses" said Book "no-one there has seen Jayne." He grinned ruefully "Though several of the girls asked for him, seems he's quite popular."

As Mal laughed Zoe contacted them on the communicator calling them to the other side of the market. They found her in a less populated area on the route back to Serenity.

"This is their stuff alright" remarked Mal surveying the pile of shopping, parts and weapons scattered all over the alley.

They picked up all the gear and headed back to Serenity.

"What the hell happened sir?" questioned Zoë "Jayne doesn't trust anyone enough to let 'em get that close."

"And no way would he drop his weapons" added Wash

Simon was doubtful "you're sure he's not just gone off somewhere taking Kaylee with him for some reason?"

"Never without his weapons" said Mal "Specially Vera, and all his other gear is still here. We have to think somethins happened to 'em. We got to find 'em and bring 'em back. And since our best tracker is lost, we'd better get goin'"


	2. Chapter 2

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me two turtle doves

Kaylee was frightened." Please Jayne, wake up" she shook his shoulder gently.

Back on the planet they'd just been walkin' along when Jayne had suddenly collapsed on the ground. That had been scary enough seein' Jayne layin' so still, worse had been finding the dart in his neck and blood on his head. She'd pulled out the dart first thing and had just been lookin' round when a sack had been thrown over her head and she was pulled away from Jayne. Determined not to be weak this time she'd fought hard kickin' and screamin' but had been easily overpowered and wound up being bound and gagged.

They were together again now even though they were chained up in a cell on a ship, she was thankful for that. Even with Jayne unconscious she felt better with him there. She'd cleaned up his head wound best she could trying to keep her calm while waiting for him to wake up. She leaned up against the bulkhead with his head cradled in her lap as the ship took off goin' someplace away from Serenity.

Jayne opened his eyes slowly, tryin' to get his bearings. Last he remembered Kaylee had been bendin' his ear 'bout the pretties in the shop windows. His head hurt and he felt like go se, but his head was pillowed on somethin' soft "Kaylee?' he questioned.

"I'm here Jayne" she said trying to keep the shake out of her voice.

He realised that he was chained up, that didn't bother him much, he'd been chained up a time or two afore.

"You chained up too?" his voice was cold. He sat up to take a look around but his head was swimmin' somethin' awful.

"Hey, careful Jayne" Kaylee's voice was alarmed "you've had a knock on the head"

Wash straightened up slowly from his inspection of the engine. Kaylee had everything in order and working well. He was happy 'bout that, if they had to take off to search for the missing crew at least Serenity was in working order. He was a fair mechanic but little Kaylee was a miracle worker, how she kept the boat in the air the way she did always amazed him. She was a good friend and he didn't like to think of her taken somewhere being frightened. Although he didn't always like Jayne and certainly didn't trust him, Wash knew that the big man would do his best to look after the girl.

Zoë, the captain and Book had gone back planet side to try and find some information on what might have happened to Kaylee and Jayne. They'd been gone a couple of hours now and he hoped they'd be back soon because Simon was drivin' him mad.

The doc had been followin' him round the ship while he checked its readiness. Every time Wash stopped Simon would home in with more questions. Out of the corner of his eye Wash saw the doctor approaching again.

"Why did….?" The doctor started

"Look doc," Wash butted in "I don't know why Jayne and Kaylee got snatched. I don't know what the captain's doing about it. I don't know anything! Mal will be back soon to answer your questions. I hope. Now please go 'n' check the medical supplies or something, please." And turning on his heels he escaped to the flight deck, thanking Buddha that his dinosaurs couldn't ask questions.

"Red, Red, come here!" Nate yelled gesturing at the surveillance screen.

"What's up?" he asked coming over staring at the picture in front of him.

"The big guys' awake already" Nate explained unnecessarily. "That ain't possible is it?"

Red turned toward the door "Maybe there weren't enough stuff in the tranqs. Let's go rattle the wang bad an's cage.

Someone was goin' to die; Jayne made the vow as Kaylee finished tellin' him 'bout the dart in his neck. Someone was also goin' to suffer and _then die_ for layin' hands on the mechanic, chainin' her up.

His ears caught the sound of heavy boots approachin' and unobtrusively moved in front of Kaylee.

"You awake already big man?" said Red "Tranqs usually knock 'em out for much longer."

Jayne glared at him without speaking, nudgin' Kaylee so she'd do the same. If he didn't talk to them they'd likely tell him where the ship was headin'. He hoped, 'cause the more time he had to make a plan, the better.

"We're goin' to Trinity and you two are goin' to be part of the show. Goin to make us lots of money" the hun dan grinned and he and his hood moved off.

"Ching-wah tsao duh liou" Jayne swore

"What are tranqs?" asked Kaylee. "Some kind of weapon?"

"Lawmen use 'em mostly on criminals. Knock 'em out with killin' them." Jayne growled. At least now he knew why he felt so bad, and why it'd been so easy to take him down. He allowed to be better than that.

Kaylee looked at him thoughtfully she hadn't liked the look in the boss guy's eyes "Are ya goin' to tell me where Trinity is and what show we're goin' to be part of?"

Jayne looked at her his face unreadable. Someone was goin' to die and it weren't goin' to be her.


	3. Chapter 3

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me three calling birds

Mal was tired. He, Book and Zoë spent all yesterday afternoon tramping round town trying to locate his missing crew members. They'd investigated abandoned buildings, searched every alley in the place, visited all the bars and talked to all the lowlifes trying to get a line on Jayne and Kaylee. They'd came up wanting.

He'd come to the conclusion that the mechanic and mercenary were no longer on the planet. They were out in the black somewhere on a ship. So first they had to locate the right ship. Naturally this planet had to be a popular port with ships landing and leaving atmo almost constantly.

So he sent Wash to the Port captain to get a list of all those ships which had taken off in the last day. Of course even if they got the list, they had no way of knowing which one held the culprits and his crew. Book and Zoe had gone to talk to the sheriff and see if they could find out about any other undesirables around.

There was also the matter of why would anyone snatch Jayne or Kaylee? Jayne probably had a list of enemies as long as his arm. But wouldn't they just kill him? There'd be no point in kidnapping. And of course no-one could hate Kaylee. A worse thought, and one he was avoiding, was that his people were snatched because of some crime they'd all done.

Speculating wasn't helping, to keep himself busy he started going through all the stuff they hauled from the alley yesterday.

All Jayne's going to town weapons were there, guns, knives, brass knuckles, emergency grenade. The list he'd given Jayne was there too, all crumpled up from too much handling, each item painstakingly marked off. The big man had been trying gorram hard to make up for what he'd done at Ariel.

Mixed up with all the boring purchases and parts for Serenity were Kaylee's Christmas things. The jumble of bright packages, bags and boxes didn't mean much to him. He had no idea what to do with them. But Kaylee had her heart set on a celebration. So when she came back the girl would have a celebration.

He turned round to find River right behind him. "Baubles shine, messages unclear. Pretty girl wants happy thoughts for all." Her brown eyes looked at him expectantly.

"You wanna do this for Kaylee?" he questioned

She nodded vigorously "Get Simon to help you," he ordered "I want everything done for when they come back."

If they came back. He hoped that wherever they were his crew were surviving.

"Yuck" Kaylee looked at the soggy brown mess in the bowl. She was starvin' but didn't want to eat that mess.

"Best eat it," Jayne said "don't know when we might get fed again."

Kaylee picked up her spoon and dutifully tasted it. Ugh. It was worse than it looked! How could Jayne just shovel it down like that? Survival of course, the man's survival instinct were stronger than most. He hadn't survived in the black this long without learnin' a few tricks.

She hadn't pressed him with questions 'bout Trinity. His head had still been hurtin' and though he'd never admit it, he needed sleep. When he'd had time t' think 'bout it he'd tell her soon enough what she needed to know. From the expression on the thugs' face and Jayne's reaction, she didn't think it was goin' to be good.

She sighed and ate some more of the horrible food; all she'd really wanted was to have a Christmas party.

Jayne heard her sigh and watched out of the corner of his eye to see if she were eating. They were goin' to need all the strength they could get so as to survive what was comin. He hoped the Captain was lookin' for them.

The remainder of the crew were gathered in the common room to discuss the information they had gathered.

"The news isn't good Captain" the Shepherd's voice was worried. "It seems that there has been a rash of disappearances over the last year. Most of those that have vanished have been fighters of some sort."

"Fighters?" Simon asked

"Mercenaries, bouncers, ex-soldiers, anyone who might put up a fight" explained Zoë. "Most of them that went missin' have never returned. The couple that have were dead when they were found."

"That explains why Jayne was snatched then," Wash remarked "the man looks like a walking weapon."

Simon was bewildered "Kaylee doesn't though."

"She was with him" Mal was angry "and ai ya that's all it would take. They, whoever they are, probably thought she was his partner or something."

He turned to his second in command "did you get a list of undesirables from the sheriff?"

She nodded "Got one from Port Security too."

"Great. Wash leave your list here and get Serenity off the planet. We'll see if we can match anything up." At last he was doing something constructive to find his crew.

"Trinity" said Jayne "is owned by some rich wang bad an from the core. Makes his money by runnin' hunts."

Kaylee leaned up against the bulkhead listening "Hunts? Like at home huntin' for meat animals?"

"Yeah" he grunted "Human animals." He watched as her eyes widened, understanding dawnin'.

"There's two parts. The folks that hunt, they pay to take part. Usually bring hunters, trackers to help 'em out. Other folks pay to watch, they gamble on the hunt. Who's goin' to win and such." He was silent.

"So, we're goin' to be prey?" Kaylee didn't like the sound of that.

His voice was grim when he answered "Yeah, looks that way."

She was here 'cause he looked like a fighter, he'd figured that out. Didn't like it one bit.

Ai ya damn

Wang bad an bastard


	4. Chapter 4

On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me four calling birds

Jayne was worried and tryin' not to show it. The ship would be landin' at Trinity soon and then their problems were really goin' to start. He wished Kaylee hadn't taken it into her head to go shoppin' the other day, and then she wouldn't be stuck here with him.

How could anyone mistake her for a fighter? The wang bad an's who'd snatched 'em had to be dumber than rocks. Just cause she'd been with him, they'd assumed she was his partner or somethin'. If anyone looked less like a girl mercenary he had yet to see them. Keepin' her safe and them both alive till the Captain found them weren't goin' to be easy.

If the captain found them. How would Mal even figure out what had happened to him and Kaylee? Cause the man would be lookin'. Not so much for him, Jayne knew, but for Kaylee. The mechanic was important to the ship; her genius touch with engines made her the most valuable crew member on board. Then there was the way that everyone, includin' him, felt about her. No-one was likely to rest easy till she was found.

The captain had been getting more and more anxious 'bout his missing crew members.

Especially Kaylee, how had anyone mistaken her for a mercenary? Even if she was with Jayne, the girl looked nothing like a fighter. She looked like a little girl dressed up in her brothers' clothes not the genius mechanic she was. He hoped nothing would go wrong with the engine while she was gone. He wished that he had never let her talk him into letting her go shopping.

He'd been occupying himself doing some of Jayne's jobs. Finally the shepherd had come and told him he had an idea. Rather than having to repeat it over 'n over to the rest of the crew they headed toward the common room. He pushed his way through the tinsel decorating the door, River had taken his instructions seriously and there were decorations hanging all over the boat.

"What in rutting hell is that smell" he demanded

"Believe it's the garbage, sir" replied Zoë

"Well why hasn't someone emptied it?" the smell was almost putrid and was makin' him feel sick.

"Till now we didn't know we had to" Wash winced "Emptying the garbage is Jayne's job." And given the smell, boy he was glad of that.

"In case you haven't noticed Jayne ain't here. And since I just finished cleaning up in the cargo bay, which is also Jayne's job, someone else can empty the gorram garbage." He looked meaningfully at Wash who was avoiding his eyes. "That means you Wash. And get back here quick. The shepherd's got an idea."

As Wash got to work, Book looked at Mal sympathetically. It was time the captain realised how much he relied on his mercenary. Though everyone acknowledged his value in a fight, as far as the shepherd could tell no-one on Serenity, with the possible exception of Kaylee, knew how much work Jayne actually accomplished while on board.

The captain was getting restless again and he could hear Wash returning. "Well shepherd, what's your idea?"

"It occurred to me that the missing fighters may have been forcibly recruited to take part in contests." He continued "Fighting contests. They used to be common on some of the core planets. The contests were held in secret locations and rich folks would pay to watch the fights and then gamble on the outcomes."

"That's all fine Shepherd" the captain was impatient "how do we find where this contest might be taking place?"

The shepherd was for once uncomfortable "I suggest that we speak to Inara." He held up his hand to stop the captain from speaking. "She has many contacts throughout the core that may have knowledge of this sort of activity."

"Shepherd's right sir and you know Inara would want to help Kaylee." Zoë said "I could contact her if you'd like?"

Mal knew that both Book and Zoe were right, Inara did have the necessary contacts and would jump straight in to help Kaylee.

"Alright, you contact her Zoe. Let's hope she can help us."

Jayne felt silence fill the holding yard. He nudged Kaylee and stood up as he saw a man approaching. His new enemy was not as tall as hisself but was bigger. The hun dan had muscles on his muscles, a shaved head, squinty eyes and a mean expression. This was the fella that he had mentally marked as the one most likely to cause trouble

Jayne had known that someone would pick on him. It always happened. People took one look at him and how big he was and decided that he needed punchin'. Seemed that they needed to show him they were stronger. That was one reason, that most of the time; he liked workin' for Malcolm Reynolds. The captain had never got into a strength contest with him. The man didn't figure he needed to show how strong he was, just assumed that folks would take his orders. And most times they did.

Jayne could feel Kaylee standing with her back to his, just like he'd told her. They'd played hoopball together often enough that she knew how to move with him. He shifted his feet slightly and she followed his movements exactly, his little girl was doing good.

Since learnin' where they were goin' Jayne had had time to think. Make a plan, such as it was. He'd talked to Kaylee 'bout it.

"When we get to Trinity do you think you can act like Zoë?"

"Act like Zoe?" she was puzzled

"All steely like" he waved his hands in the air "look like ya'll cut off people's balls if they even look at ya cross-eyed."

They'd had lots of time to talk so he'd gone on to explain to her how she should act, showed her a few moves. And Kaylee was putting it into practice perfectly. Just as well, cause here came squinty eyes.

The muscle man picked up the pace, charging at them. He swung his fist and Jayne ducked bringing his own fist up in a short jab to the Ching-wah tsao duh liou's ribs. His opponent staggered but didn't go down, shootin' his leg out and kickin' him in the knee 'bucklin' it.

Jayne went down on one knee, turning his head slightly to check out Kaylee who had shifted to move back behind him, fists raised. Squinty moved back into range and Jayne's hand shot out to grab his leg, overbalancing him. As the man fell forward Jayne stood up, his head hitting the hun dan under the chin, knockin' him to the ground and kickin' him in the head for good measure. No way was Squinty gettin' up again, his neck was broke.

Jayne stood breathin' heavily, Kaylee still standin' at his back. He glared round at all the watchers. "Alright, who wants it next?"

Ching-wah tsao duh liou frog riding bastard

Wang bad an bastard


	5. Chapter 5

On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me five gold rings

Jayne woke from his light doze with a start, gazing round to see what had woken him.

After his defeat of Squinty everyone had left em alone for the rest of the afternoon and night. Didn't mean he could let his guard down 'n' go to sleep though. Night time was a good time to sneak up on folks and Kaylee was a magnet for every man in the yard. When they had arrived, he hadn't missed the lustful looks most of 'em had directed at her. Only his fighting skills and intimidatin' manner had kept the bastards away so far. Kaylee doin' her Zoë act had helped deter them as well.

The sound that woke him was Kaylee whimperin' in her sleep. Since they'd been taken she'd been sleepin' with her head on his shoulder all cuddled up to his side. Made him feel way too protective and all manner of nervous. Havin' her so close and not be able to touch the way he wanted would have killed him 'cept for the situation they were in.

Kaylee was goin' to scream, wake everyone up, and attract their attention again. He tried smoothin' her hair, shakin' her gently to wake her. But she was too deep in the dream, so he stopped her scream with his mouth.

That was a big mistake, 'cause she kissed him back. Her lips were soft and she tasted of honey, sweet and moresome. His hand went driftin' all by itself down the length of her side. He had to stop. She was still asleep, trusted him. With a groan he reluctantly tore his mouth from hers. He slid his free arm under her knees and lifted her onto his lap. She snuggled into his chest, her hair brushin' his chin as his arms cradled her close. There were only a couple more hours till mornin', he could stand it that long. Gorram it he hoped the hunt would start today. They'd have more chance out in the open than trapped in this yard with crowds of horny desperados.

Inara stretched her arms in the air to get the kinks out. She had been talking to her contacts all through the night and had finally found out some information.

When Zoë contacted her yesterday, she'd been pleased. With the exception of Kaylee, she hadn't spoken to anyone from Serenity since the day she left. Several times she'd been tempted to either write or call but had thought better of it. The break should be clean, and then perhaps they could all get on with their lives.

But she hadn't been able to ignore Zoë's request for help. With Kaylee in trouble, she must put aside her own wishes and do her utmost to help. The mechanic had been her best friend aboard Serenity, accepting her as she was, never criticising. It was Kaylee's presence that had made life on the ship always bearable. Now Inara had a chance to repay her and she was going to do it even if it meant leaving her sanctuary for awhile.

Kaylee woke to the sound of a steady thuddin' in her ear and opened her eyes to an expanse of shirt covered chest. She was curled up on Jayne's lap his arms wrapped around her. How'd she get here? Not that she didn't like it, but how'd she get here?

Course the man was awake, looking at her with his clear blue eyes "Ya had a bad dream." He explained and lifted her off his lap.

"Want to tell me 'bout it?" he asked "was it the fight yesterday?"

"No Jayne, it wasn't yesterday." She shook her head "it's somethin' I don't wanna talk 'bout. Dong ma?"

He nodded and got to his feet "Ya did good yesterday Kaylee. I'm proud of ya."

He looked so tired. As far as she could tell Jayne hadn't had a proper sleep since they'd left Serenity. Dozin' here and there weren't the same. Tonight wherever they were, she was goin' to be lookout and he was goin' to sleep.

And he was goin' to have 't tell her if he was hurtin'. No more macho stuff. The way he was limpin' toward her with their food showed that his knee must hurt worse than she thought.

Before she could talk to him 'bout it she saw him tense up and following his gaze saw their captors approachin' guns trained on them.

"Captain" Zoë's voice came over the intercom. "Inara's found something out. She needs to talk to us."

Mal ran up the ladder to the flight deck, he was really starting to miss Kaylee…and Jayne. Never thought he'd see the day where he missed Jayne. He just hoped that whatever Inara had found out was helpful enough to find his crew.

"You were partially correct Shepherd" the companion began "fighters are being forcibly recruited for contests. But not for fighting contests, they are being used in hunts."

"Hunts?" questioned Simon "they're hunting something?"

"No" Inara answered "they are the hunted."

"Are you telling me that my crew are going to be the prey in one of these contests?" Mal couldn't believe it.

Inara sighed "Unfortunately, yes, that's what I'm telling you." She went on "People pay substantial amounts of money to take part in these hunts. Those that participate hire mercenaries to assist them. Those that don't want to participate can watch the hunt on screens. Everyone on the planet, except for the prey is there by special invitation."

"Ai ya. How are we goin' to get there then?" Wash asked.

"The next contest starts today on a moon called Trinity. It will take Serenity two days to get there. I will rendezvous with you there. I took the liberty of contacting Sir Warwick Harrow, he has obtained six invitations."

Inara knew Mal wouldn't like her involving anyone outside their circle but it had to be done. She, by herself wasn't eligible for an invitation. Better keep talking before she was interrupted.

"Sir Warwick has the contacts and it appears he remembers Kaylee from the ball. Some of his friends were most impressed with her mechanical knowledge."

"Alright Inara" the captain interrupted "you can stop justifying yourself. I ain't gonna argue this time. I just want to know if my crew are 'taking part' in the next contest."

"Yes" she answered "they are."

Jayne pulled Kaylee behind him and swept his eyes around the clearing the shuttle had dropped them in. There was only a couple of hours of daylight left and they needed to get movin'.

Kaylee stopped him before he could move or start talkin'. "Jayne I need to look at your knee."

"I know what's wrong with it girl. The kneecap's shifted." He was so casual 'bout it as if his bein' hurt didn't matter.

"Jayne" she was exasperated "ya can face down a yard full of killers but won't let me look at your knee? Ya need to be fit for the hunt; I don't know what to do, so just let me look already."

He sat down in resignation and watched as she rolled up his trouser leg. Kaylee held down a gasp when she saw the area all round the knee was black 'n blue and the kneecap was pushed out of shape.

"Just push it back will ya Kaylee. We got to get goin'" Jayne was impatient "just treat it like a piece of your engine and fix it."

Kaylee's clever little mechanic's hands probed gently round his kneecap, feeling where it should go. Carefully she placed one hand above, one below and before she could think 'bout what she was doin', pushed the kneecap up with the heel of her hand.

Jayne groaned, takin' slow breaths to try and ease the pain.

Kaylee tentatively smoothed his hair "Best sit for a bit and rest" she advised.

He guessed a little rest wouldn't hurt. His knee hurt like go se. Maybe they could use the time to talk 'bout what was comin' next.

"Ya been huntin' afore Kaylee?" he asked

"Back home with Dad and the boys" she answered "Dad said I was good at it."

"Shiny. We ain't runnin'. We're goin' huntin'. That should shock 'em a bit, I hope. Gonna turn it round on them. Goin' to hunt us some men" he grinned nastily "Get us some weapons, maybe rations."

He saw the doubtful look on her face. "Don't worry" he said "won't ask ya to hurt no-one, that's my job. Just need ya to be real quiet."

"I can do that, I promise." Kaylee answered

Jayne grinned at her "Good. We might get out of this after all."


	6. Chapter 6

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me six geese a-laying

Kaylee watched as Jayne slithered away through the grass. He'd only gone a little way and she'd already lost sight of him. As for hearing him, huh, the man moved so silently it amazed her.

Used to his more obvious presence when aboard Serenity Kaylee admired the professionalism Jayne was showin' in his huntin'. Of course the captain wouldn't have kept him around if he wasn't good at his job. It puzzled her mightily why Mal didn't praise Jayne up more for it, instead of critisin' him all the time. It seemed to her that no-one on Serenity, includin' her, appreciated Jayne like they should.

She was appreciatin' him now. She knew the only reason she were still alive was cause of Jayne Cobb.

Mal cursed roundly as the crate ran straight over his foot.

"Oh, sorry Mal" Wash was apologising all over the place "it just slipped out of my hands and it's so heavy."

"Perhaps I could help Captain" the shepherd's voice was calming as usual. He felt his intervention would have more effect on the captain if the doctor hadn't chosen that moment to appear and start complaining.

"Captain why is it that River and I have been allocated Christmas decoration duty? Should we be worrying about such things when Kaylee is missing?"

"Since we don't have much else to do I thought you would welcome the opportunity to keep busy doctor." The captain was trying to keep his temper. Anxiety always made him antsy, and now added to his worry 'bout his missing crew was the worry of the up coming rescue.

They wouldn't arrive at Trinity till the next day, and after arrival they still had to make a rescue plan. Jayne was good, but Mal was worried that his crew might not survive the wait.

Jayne moved through the undergrowth stealthily. The man he was trackin' weren't far away now. He had scouted round till he'd found someone on his own. Fella was still at the campfire eatin' breakfast.

He was feelin' on the top of his game after a good nights sleep. Kaylee had insisted on standin' watch last night. Used all her tricks on him she had, arguin' with him till he gave in and let her do what she wanted.

She'd done good at it too, kept good watch and now she was provin' to be a valuable huntin' partner. Followed his signals well, anticipated his moves. Didn't need to see the mayhem though, so he left her hidden while he closed in on his prey.

Man was packin' up his gear, his attention occupied. Jayne came up behind his target snaking his arms around the man's neck. Twisting powerfully till he felt the bone give and the neck snap.

Jayne looked round the campsite pickin' up the food, weapons and the man's other stuff and headed back for Kaylee.

Inara was worried. Although Mal had agreed to the plan so far, she was afraid that something would go wrong.

After a year on Serenity she knew that something always went wrong with any plan that Mal was involved in. She had tried her best to ensure that everything would go smoothly. Enlisting Sir Warwick's help, procuring the outfits they would all wear. It was the outfits Mal was baulking at now. She could see his frown even over the wave.

"Didn't need you to supply our clothes Inara" she always made him feel defensive.

"Excuse me son" interrupted Sir Warwick "but you did. If you and your companions are not correctly dressed you will never get past the front door."

"Who are my companions going to be?" asked Mal "who do the clothes fit?"

"You, River, Book and Zoe" Inara answered "See you tomorrow at the rendezvous."

Inara sighed she hoped there would still be someone left to rescue; she was so concerned about Kaylee.

"Jayne" Kaylee's voice had that 'I know I'm askin' somethin' ya won't like' tone.

She'd been goin' through the dead man's bag while Jayne checked the weapons he'd looted.

"There was some soap in the bag and here we are next to a creek 'n I could do with a wash." She looked at him hopefully.

"We're goin' to be chased and hunted all over the planet and you want to take a bath?" he couldn't believe his ears. He would never understand women.

She fired up a bit at that "Don't tell me you ain't gonna stop and clean those guns afore ya use them?"

"Well yeah, if I get a chance, safer that way." Gorram girl knew him too well.

"Why not stop here then?" she demanded "and I can have a wash. It's been six days Jayne and I needed a shower before we went shoppin'"

She looked at him with her beautiful brown eyes and he was lost. He always gave in. "Ya got fifteen minutes then, that's all" he growled at her. "I'll sit up here 'n keep lookout and clean the guns."

"Turn ya head, won't ya Jayne." She ordered

"Ya ain't got nothin' I haven't seen before" he objected grinnin' at her standin' there with her hands on her hips and obediently turnin' his head and pickin' up the largest gun.

Wo de tian a he was regrettin' that decision. The little noises Kaylee was makin' were drivin' his imagination wild.

The little squeak she gave when the cold water first hit her. The moan of pleasure as she made splashin' noises; he wondered what the hell she was washin'. He concentrated fiercely on the gun in front of him, cleaning the pieces rapidly. Ai ya she was hummin' again, real soft it was, but he could hear it. Amid Kaylee's distracting noises he heard the faint cackle of a comm unit.

"Kaylee" his voice was soft, warnin' her of danger as he turned his head tryin' to mark where the sound was comin' from.

She moved up quietly beside him and he glanced sideways at her to see if she were ready to go, and what little of his brain that worked, seized.

Kaylee must have washed her shirt as well as herself pullin' it on wet when he spoke. Since she hadn't pulled her overalls up yet he got a clear view of her shirt which clung to her in all the right places makin' her nipples stand out.

"Cain't think 'bout that now" he reminded himself "Stop watchin' gorram it."

He heard the tell tale crackle comin' closer and finally his brain started workin' again. He signalled Kaylee to follow as he started to track the sound, movin' slowly through the brush.

The two men were standin' just up ahead and weren't even keepin' good watch. Sloppy work, but good for him, gave him the advantage. He motioned to Kaylee to lay down and take cover.

Drawin' the knife he crept closer till he was only a couple of feet from them. Takin' the dumb asses by surprise he jumped out of the bushes landin' straight in front of them, knife flashin' across one body to the other in one motion. Bendin' down he drew the knife across their throats, grabbed the packs and ran grabbin' Kaylee on the way past.

"We gotta keep movin'"

Ai ya damn

Wo de tian a mother of god


	7. Chapter 7

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me seven swans a-swimming

Mal was exasperated with Simon. The man had been plaguing the life out of him since the last wave from Inara.

"I need you and Wash here on the boat that's why." He was answering the tenth complaint from the doctor. "Wash is going to keep watch out here and pilot us away if need be. And you will get the infirmary ready in case we have injuries. Dong ma?"

"That's all very well Captain, but I question why you need to take River with you." Simon was worried about his sister and how she may react to all the new sensations on the moon. Although she had been a little improved since her tussle with Early, he thought she was by no means ready to go into a potentially dangerous situation.

If the truth were told Mal wasn't too sure about taking the girl with them either. But he was willing to try anything that might help in the rescue of his crew.

"We might need a reader down there, and she's the only one we have. So I'm sorry doctor but River is coming with us." he turned to Wash "How long to the rendezvous?"

"Another four hours and we should be above Trinity." And he'd be stuck here with the doctor again "You should be down on the moon by nightfall, and then the fun will really begin."

Jayne pushed aside the bushes and staggered into the cave where Kaylee was pacing anxiously.

"Jayne!" she dashed forward and grasping his elbow helped as he slumped to the ground. He was covered in mud, drippin' water everywhere and bleedin' from a bad gash in his arm.

Kaylee turned and picked up the med kit she had put aside when Jayne was late getting' back. She blessed the fact that the stolen packs had included the kit as well as food and weapons.

"Cover the entrance first Kaylee." He reminded her when she turned to him med kit in hand. He watched as she pulled the bushes back into place. She hadn't flinched away from him this time. Yesterday when they stopped runnin' Kaylee had taken one look at him all covered in blood and flinched.

Jayne didn't think he could stand it if Kaylee were afraid of him. He could take the we're friends bit. He could even stand the mechanic makin' eyes at the doc 'n every pretty boy that came along, as long as Kaylee weren't afraid of him.

She was on her knees beside him now, head bent as she examined the gash in the arm. Ai ya it stretched all the way from his wrist to the elbow. "What happened Jayne? You were gone so long."

Kaylee had been goin' crazy waitin' for him to come back. She was so worried 'bout what might've gone wrong for Jayne that she had almost gone lookin' for him. But she had promised him that she wouldn't leave the cave. No way was she goin' to disappoint him, but boy was she sick of him doin' all the work, protectin' them both.

"More in the group than I thought" he hissed as she swabbed the wound clean "Had to hide in the creek to get the drop on 'em."

The wound was clean, now she had to sew it up. She shuddered, there was no smoothers for Jayne to take, nothin' to take the pain away. To distract him she asked "How many were there?"

"Seven." He knew she was tryin' to distract him. "Kaylee, I know there's no smoothers. Distract me by tellin' me why you're so set celebratin' Christmas."

"Well sir you sure are a thing of beauty." Zoë smiled at the captain. Blue is definitely your colour.

She and River were the beauties thought Mal, they easily equalled Inara in the sophisticated stakes.

Zoë was swathed in a black dress covered in some sort of golden flowers. It fitted her from neck to ankles showing every curve the woman had. Made him glad Wash weren't here to start rhapsodizing.

Looking at River, he was just as glad that the doctor weren't present. He was pretty sure that Simon would object to how low cut River's dress was. Somehow the red dress she wore made her appear a lot older than her seventeen years. It clung, all over, it wasn't decent. But at least River looked comfortable which was more 'n could be said for himself.

The shepherd actually looked comfortable in the outfit he was wearing. Since it was almost a companion to his, Mal didn't know how that could be.

The collar of his shirt was so high he could barely turn his head. The coat so tight he couldn't move his arms above his head, and if Kaylee thought the pants he'd worn to the ball at Persephone were tight, she should see these ones. The whole outfit was topped off by a red sash just like Sir Warwick's. Made him fell like a gorram fancy man.

"Enough of this admiration stuff." He said "have you heard anything of Jayne and Kaylee?"

"It appears that Jayne has already created a furore." Remarked Inara

Mal was thankful that his crew were still alive "What's he done then?"

Inara couldn't hide her slight smile "He's not following the rules."

"Well of course he's not following the rules, when does he ever?" remarked the captain "There's rules for hunting people?"

"I'm afraid so my boy" answered Sir Warwick. "The prey is supposed to run scared, be hunted. It adds to the sport."

"Jayne has turned the competition around" Inara explained "He's hunting the hunters. So far he has accounted for ten of the competitors. For the first time in the hunt's history, people are betting on the prey."

"I just got to thinkin' on Christmas at home" Kaylee had never stitched anyone up before, least of all someone she cared 'bout. Maybe if she just kept talkin' it'd be over sooner.

"We'd start getting' ready days afore Christmas. Ma had this special cake where everyone had 't stir the mixture for good luck. So everybody who stirred would come to stay, the house was full. People slept in the barn." Her eyes lit up remembering

"My ma's sister is blind. But she sings so beautiful. She would sit in the corner in the kitchen and sing every Christmas song she knew. She taught me and some of the cousins all the songs so's to carry them on." Thank Buddha she was nearly finished. Jayne was tryin' not to show how much it was hurtin'. But she could see the lines of pain etched in his face and hear the barely smothered groans he gave from time to time.

"The years we didn't have much money we made presents for each other. Other years we bought stuff, one year my daddy gave me a music box. It played one of the Christmas songs my aunt taught me." She smiled "I don't like snow, it's too cold. But snow at Christmas its like magic. When we got older it was fun to cuddle 'n kiss the special boy of the time under a blanket in the barn."

"How many boys would that be, little Kaylee?" he grinned at her

"More 'n a few," she sighed "it was just a fun, happy time. For one day everyone forgot their problems, enjoyed theirselves. These last few months on Serenity the crew has been havin' a hard time what with Tracey dyin', Early causin' all that trouble and Inara leavin'. I just thought we needed cheerin' up. If I hadn't thought that, we wouldn't be here now." She sat back on her knees surveying her handiwork, finished the stitching at last.

"Ya might not be, but I would" as usual Jayne never sugar coated anything. "I'd still be injured and I'd have no-one to help me."

Well maybe she was sort of glad she was here then, Kaylee didn't want him to be alone.

Ai ya damn

Wo de tian a mother of god


	8. Chapter 8

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me eight maids a milking

Kaylee sat with Jayne's head on her shoulder while he shivered with the cold. She didn't know which was worse, the shiverin' from the cold or the burnin' with fever.

Yesterday the zhu tou man had insisted on continuing their journey till nightfall. While she knew their lives were at stake Kaylee thought that Jayne should rest up more before continuin'. She'd lost that argument in a big way, Jayne hadn't been caught by any of her tricks this time. He'd wanted to put as much space between them and the dead bad guys as he could. So he'd kept goin' and goin' till they were both exhausted.

Cause they wouldn't have had to walk so far 'cept they were avoidin' the cameras. Kaylee hated the cameras. They tracked every move she and Jayne made and relayed it back to the people who were watchin' their troubles.

Early on Jayne had got her to explain to him how the ta ma de-ing things worked and between them they'd figured out a way round them. The route they plotted took them much longer but they were safer. No-one could relay their position if no-one knew where they were. Their enemies would not know how injured he was and take advantage.

No-one was goin' to take advantage of either of them if Kaylee could help it. She knew Jayne was really sick when he had handed her a gun and asked her to keep watch. Blue eyes hazy with fever, body wracked with shivers he'd been worried about her and the gun, she knew it.

"I'll fire it if I have to" she promised him with determination.

And he lay down and went to sleep.

Mal looked around uncomfortably; they had had no trouble infiltrating the viewing room on this benighted moon.

Sir Warwick and Inara's contacts had proved valuable. The booth they were sitting in was one of the best; it gave them a good view of the whole room, even though it was too open for his taste.

The opulent room left him cold; everything was too rich, too tasteful and it was full of the sort of people he despised. The booth's only other advantage was the screen which relayed what was happening out on the hunting grounds.

Soon they would begin to reconnoitre the area and hopefully find a way to rescue Kaylee and Jayne. But first they needed to find out what had been going on with their missing friends.

Sir Warwick was carrying a hand-held Cortex screen so they could communicate with Serenity and broadcast what was appearing on the booth screen.

"I'm most impressed by the courage displayed by your crew members," remarked the lord. He had spent the morning reviewing the events from the previous days. "They have done well to survive this far, whenever they appear on screen the level of interest in the room spikes."

"Jayne is avoiding the cameras to the best of his ability" the shepherd was also impressed "he only appears when totally necessary, usually when he is about to kill somebody."

The captain shrugged "That'd be Jayne. Paranoid."

"Huh? What's paranoia got to do with it?" Wash was puzzled

"The man stays out of camera range no-one can report where he is." Mal explained "Gives him an edge. Means he can hunt and track without looking over his shoulder."

He continued to think out loud "Jayne's good at what he does, but he's short on temper, specially when folks are trying to kill him. It puzzles me how he's managed to keep calm so long."

"Kaylee sir" Zoë's voice was dry

"I don't understand" Mal's expression was mirrored by everyone else except

River.

Zoë glanced sideways at the girl who rolled her eyes in obvious exasperation.

"He's worried about her, protecting her. Don't any of you realise what that man feels for Kaylee?"

"Feelings and Jayne?" Wash joked "isn't that a contradiction in terms?" He felt the silence even over the Cortex and catching his wife's steely expression rapidly shut up.

The stunned silence continued in the booth and on the flight deck for several minutes as people evaluated what they'd heard.

Mal pulled Zoe aside "You are saying what I think you're saying ain't you? And how come you know what's going on anyway?"

"He covers it up real well most times, but anyone who ain't blind could see that Jayne gorram near worships the ground Kaylee walks on." Zoë was determined that her captain recognise some truths about the folk on his boat.

"Appears that large numbers of us are blind then" Mal answered "Kaylee included, I guess?"

"Don't think she realises sir" Zoë agreed "but lately I've been wondering if Kaylee ain't thinking on Jayne a little."

Kaylee had been thinkin' on Jayne for some little time before their failed shoppin' exhibition.

Simon was never goin' to take what she was offerin'. She'd thrown herself at him so often and he'd never even kissed her. She knew that, even if he did come around, she, Kaylee would always come second to River. She didn't want to be second; she wanted to be first, to be special to someone.

She hadn't thought of Jayne as that someone not at first.

His body she was already well aware of. How could anyone not be aware of his bulk, his muscles, how he was put together so well? But she'd started noticin' other things 'bout him. The way he took care of his weapons, the way he concentrated so fierce on things so he could understand them. The way he enjoyed sex so much, enjoyed women. He kept in touch with his ma, argued with everyone. Hid his feelins' and everything else 'bout hisself.

Fong luh girl, she wanted him real bad.

Zhu tou pig headed

ta ma de-ing mother fucking

fong luh crazy


	9. Chapter 9

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me nine ladies dancing

"Why hasn't the prey slowed down?" demanded the man at the desk, his voice menacing.

"We shot him with the tranq, he went down straight away." Nate protested, conveniently not mentioning how the big man had woken up too early.

"He should be slowed down by now then. Never takes more than a day. Instead he's out there killing my valued customers. Two of those killed yesterday were Core folks, repeaters, worth lots of money to me. And the girl, your drawcard, where is she? Aside from the fight in the holding yard we've hardly seen her. People pay well to see pretty prey hunted."

"We didn't see him at all yesterday. Maybe there was some sort of delayed reaction or somethin'" Red could see that they were in trouble. It didn't do to disappoint the man in charge that could result in death, their death. "We could go out ourselves, see what we can do," he offered.

"Alright, I'll have the shield lifted for long enough for you to fly to their last known location. You'll take my men with you and report to me at all times. I'm warning you however, if you don't rectify the situation, don't come back."

Mal was listening to all the reports, tryin' to absorb all the information.

"There's a shield of some sort over the whole hunting ground. Means we can't just fly in and rescue them."

"Pity"

"The gates into the grounds are guarded electronically and physically, guards are tough too."

"All the guests are confined to the landing area and the space around this facility."

"I've been studying Jayne and Kaylee's route" said the shepherd

"And found what?"

"They're heading in this direction."

"What's that?" Mal was surprised

"They're headed in this direction." Repeated the shepherd "Perhaps in order to reach the boats, hijack one to get out of here."

The captain hadn't thought of that, didn't know that Jayne would've. How would he even know which direction to go? Of course tracking, hunting and killing were what Jayne was good at. Maybe he had come up with a workable plan. Mal was beginning to realise that he didn't really know what his mercenary was capable of.

He'd also been surprised at Kaylee's part in the fight in the holding yard. The expression on her face, her stance said Zoë not Kaylee. Made him think he didn't really know her.

Since the time in the holding yard, except for an occasional glimpse of her, Kaylee had been conspicuous by her absence. He was worried about her. He was worried about Jayne; neither had been seen since yesterday.

He turned to the girl beside him. River had been remarkably well behaved so far gazing round with big eyes, staying relatively silent.

"Girl can you hear them?" he asked.

"Birds swimming rings and lords. Christmas cheer. Girl worried, sick."

"Kaylee's sick?"

"No." River rolled her eyes. "Jayne is."

"Uh-oh" Wash's voice interrupted "folks look at your screen."

The captain stared in concern at the running figure on the screen, it was Kaylee and she was alone.

Kaylee stretched her arms, boy she was stiff. She'd been sittin' here with Jayne for a night and day now and at last he seemed to be restin' easier. He wasn't burnin' up no more and the shiverin' was dying down. She smoothed his hair gently.

Jayne was goin' to be so mad that they'd lost a whole day. She was anticipatin' another argument. Be good actually to have him talkin' to her again, lookin' at her. She missed him, fancy that.

It was time for her to take a look around, do her rounds. She could leave him for a minute. When she came back, she could wake him and they could eat before they left.

Kaylee looked at the gun lyin' on the ground, best take it with her. She didn't think she could shoot it, but Jayne never went anywhere without his guns, so she wasn't goin' to either.

She avoided the cameras as she walked the perimeter like Jayne had showed her. She was only a couple of meters away but couldn't see Jayne or their hidin' spot at all. He'd chosen real well.

As she turned ready to get back she was grabbed from behind.

Purely in reflex she spun round kickin' out at her captor. He dropped back and she ran, leadin' him away from where she'd left Jayne. She risked a glance over her shoulder and ran straight into the arms of another man. Her fingers tightened on the trigger of the gun and it went off with a bang.

Jayne jerked awake; the shot sounded like it were right beside him, where the hell was Kaylee? She'd been right there with him every time he woke up.

He rolled over and jumped up, nearly fallin' over again, his head was swimmin' that much. He shook his head to clear it and trained his eyes on the ground to follow her tracks. Pickin' up his weapons he started to walk, didn't have to go far from their hidin' place to find the gun he'd given Kaylee lying discarded on the ground beside a groaning low life. From the tracks all round it appeared his little girl had put up a fight.

He grabbed the man by the throat tightening his fingers brutally "gonna tell me what I want to know?"

The whole room watched as Jayne dispatched the injured low life with brutal efficiency.

"He doesn't look well sir"

"River said he was sick." Mal replied "I'm more worried about him keepin' his temper. You know he don't think so well when he's in a fury."

Jayne was havin' a hard time keepin' calm. If he didn't keep calm he couldn't think straight, was likely to do something stupid. Couldn't do anythin' stupid, do anythin' to endanger Kaylee.

The wang bad an had told him where the camp was, told him 'bout the hill just above it. He was goin' to use that to his advantage, they wouldn't be expecting him.

Approaching the campsite cautiously, he dodged the guards posted about. Had to take his time crawlin' through the underbrush on the hill above the camp. From his vantage point he could see Kaylee surrounded by at least half the men in the camp while the other half looked on, that group includin' the two hun dans that'd snatched them.

Someone was goin' to die.

He closed his eyes for a moment to think, took a deep breath and opened fire with the machine gun.

Wang bad an bastard


	10. Chapter 10

On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me ten lords a-leaping

The crew sat in the booth, silently watching the replay of the day before. They for sure had not recovered from seeing Kaylee manhandled as she had been, or from Jayne's display of killing fury.

The violence against Kaylee had affected them all. Zoë and the shepherd had gone all tight-lipped. The captain could hear Wash swearing over the Cortex and feel Simon's silence. River was standing poised for action looking, for once, like the dangerous weapon she was. He had grasped hold of the girl's arm to contain her and perhaps himself had felt her relax slightly just before Jayne had cut loose with a machine gun.

When the man had opened fire like that, the captain thought that Jayne had finally snapped.

But no, the machine gun had systematically swept the area cutting down first the guards and then the watchers. It wasn't till the machine gun was empty that anyone had seen him. Jayne had burst from the bushes on the hillside dropping the machine gun and grabbing another weapon shooting on the run at the men surrounding Kaylee. When he ran out of bullets, Jayne had drawn his knife and slashed his way through anyone who prevented him from getting to the mechanic who was doing her best to help him achieve his goal.

The whole time the little mechanic was in the hands of the hun dans she had fought and fought. Several times she had nearly given them the slip causing them to get more violent with her. But she had never given up. The moment Jayne started shooting Kaylee had dropped to the ground and started crawling away heading toward the open ground. She had dodged and ducked till she arrived at the very edge of the clearing at the same time as Jayne who kept firing the whole way. It was Kaylee who had bent down and collected weapons as they ran.

They had run and run. Jayne had had to get them away from there, quick as possible. Other hunters could've heard the shots, be on them like fleas on a dog. He still felt like go se though and had to slow down after a while. Couldn't stop though, he had to get them out of camera sight and back on their route.

Finally he felt that they were out of immediate danger and called a halt for now, they both needed a rest, a bit of time to get their emotions under control.

The moment they stopped Jayne had started to check Kaylee over for serious injuries. Without thinking his fingers had traced each bruise, each cut on her pretty skin wishin' he could kill their enemies all over again.

She'd shot a man, it had been an accident. But she'd shot him. She could still hear the sound of the bullet hitting flesh and bone. The moan of pain the man gave as he fell, it made her feel sick.

If she could hear the shot and the moan, she could still feel the rough hands that had touched her. Felt her. Jubal Early had only talked 'bout it. Those men had been goin' to do it. Rape her, would have too 'cept Jayne had stopped them.

They'd escaped and ran and ran. Only stoppin' when Jayne was satisfied they were safe.

When they stopped they had held on to each other tightly. Kaylee had been shocked to discover that Jayne was shakin' as much as she was. He had been concerned for her, was all, and checked her all over for injuries, been so gentle with her and angry at the bad guys.

That's why when they had finally settled down to rest she'd asked Jayne if she could sit in his lap. She needed the comfort, the safety, thought he might need it too.

He hadn't answered with words, just picked her up settling her on his lap. Kaylee put her head on his chest feeling his strong arms hold her close, and they had just sat, not talking, not sleepin' all night.

Red was panting; keeping up with the big huh choo-shang tza-jiao duh tzang-huo was exhausting him. But the hun dan had to die. So did little Miss Pretty, messing up his and Nate's life, being the death of them. Nate was dead and he was going to get some revenge.

When the man had opened fire Red had automatically flung himself to the ground. Nate had been still stood, drawing his weapon when a shot caught him in the leg. Red saw him get back up and head toward the girl, and that was when the big man had slashed him, cut his throat. He was going to die, they both were.

"Jayne still looked sick sir"

"That he did." Aside from getting' banged up and shot, Jayne hadn't had a sick day since he came on board Serenity. "Do you have any ideas Doc, what might be ailing him?"

"I'm afraid not Captain. I thought perhaps it might be an infection from a wound, but given Jayne's constitution I don't think so."

"Why's that?"

"He always recovers very quickly from any infections."

"Captain" Sir Warwick interrupted "I might have an answer for you."

The lord had been circulating through the room all morning, stopping to chat here and there, placing bets and such.

"In order to make the prey more co-operative they are shot with tranquilizers."

"Well that explains getting the drop on Jayne and him loosing his weapons" remarked Zoë.

"Why do I get the feeling that that ain't all?" asked Mal

Sir Warwick said "You are correct captain. The tranquilizers typically contain some sort of compound which slows the prey down making them easier to hunt. The compounds are apparently unstable and can cause extreme problems for the poor souls, sometimes even killing them."

"Doc, Jayne ain't dead yet, can you figure out some sort of antidote?"

Simon thought carefully, "I may be able too, yes. However the longer the compound is in his system, the more dangerous it could be."

"Shepherd, have you been tracking our people?" Mal had the beginnings of a plan.

"There's been no sign of them today. But if Jayne and Kaylee continue at the pace they were going yesterday, they should arrive at the fence by tonight."

Kaylee was tired. They had been walkin' all day. Dodgin' the cameras, creepin' through bushes, hiding from hunters, her nerves were all on edge. And she was worried 'bout Jayne. The man was still sick, had to keep stoppin' to throw up. He'd made himself eat somethin' but kept loosin' it.

'Cause the man just kept goin' and goin determined to get them to the fence, get them off this rock.

Jayne had explained that findin' the fence was fine, but what they needed to do was find the gates, the ones that led to the port. The last couple of hours he'd been followin' some sort of tracks that he thought might lead 'em to the right place.

She jumped when he tapped her on the shoulder; he was standin' with his head tilted to the side "Listen, Kaylee. What's that sound?"

"That's the electrics Jayne," she was so relieved "we've found the gates."

Huh choo-shang tza-jiao duh tzang-huo: Animal-fucking bastard.


	11. Chapter 11

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me eleven pipers piping

Jayne stood watch while Kaylee worked on the conduit. He was standin' concealed in the bushes while she was out in the open crouched by the fence. He didn't like it. But it had to be done, they needed to get to the port and grab a ship. Once out of atmo and in the black they could send a wave to Serenity.

He knew the captain would be lookin' for Kaylee, wouldn't have given up yet. It was his job to get her to a spot where the captain could find her.

Before she started workin' he'd done a bit of scoutin' and been dismayed to find so many guards posted round the perimeter.

He was too big to be standin' out in the open; although they was facin' the other way, any of the guards alongside the fence perimeter might see him, open fire, alert security. Kaylee in contrast was hardly visible, layin flat on the ground to work, her brownish clothes givin' her natural camouflage. But he worried 'bout her, wanted to be with her, constantly.

Watchin' her now he could see that she looked real tired, neither of them had slept much the previous night. Jayne was feeling too sick to sleep well and beside he couldn't keep his eyes off Kaylee.

Kaylee would drift off then wake again shakin and upset. Dreamin' again. He tried to keep her close, give her comfort. Kept checking she was there. He didn't think he'd ever be able to let her out of his sight again. So he sat there and watched her sleep.

Now he was watchin' her work and hopin' that they'd be leavin' this rock today.

The captain had waved first thing this morning to tell them to be ready at a moments notice; he had a plan half-way worked out. So Wash was staving of boredom by walkin' round the boat checking her readiness. He hoped that for once the plan would work, that Zoë and the others would be alright, and that Kaylee and Jayne would be rescued and they would all return to Serenity.

The boat was as ready as it could be, so he turned to his other duty. River had thrust into his hand a written list of vague directions complete with illustrations which directed him to complete the Christmas preparations. As he struggled with lengths of tinsel which threatened to trip him the doctor approached again.

Go se he was going to have to talk to Mal about being left with Simon so much. First the man had driven him mad with questions he couldn't answer and now Simon was stretching his patience by worrying about Kaylee and Jayne's possible relationship.

"Do you think that Kaylee…?" began the doctor

Wash interrupted impatiently "Simon, I don't know what Kaylee feels for Jayne. But I think you need to realise something."

"What?"

"The girl has been throwing herself at you for months and you haven't done a thing in return."

When Simon opened his mouth to protest Wash held up a hand to stop him. "A couple of almost kisses, half telling her she's pretty, don't count. You've hurt Kaylee's feelings more than once. She knows she doesn't come first with you. With Jayne she does, we've all seen that. If Kaylee chooses to be with him you'll have to accept it. Dong ma?"

Simon nodded half resentfully "Dong ma." He agreed

"Good" said Wash "now do you think you can help me with the gorram decorating?"

The captain was trying to formulate a plan. One that would work, not get them into more trouble. Of course they were placing a lot of faith in Jayne. That he would do what they believed. But if there was even a chance that Jayne and Kaylee would be at the fence today. He needed to help them.

"You said that there are guards all along the fence?"

"Yes sir, all armed. The fence is electrified, and there are electronic sensors all over. "

"Where's the main control then? Down at the port?"

"I don't think so" said the shepherd "I believe that the main control area is in this building. I located a whole sealed off section when I was wandering around. It is very heavily guarded, which can only mean that it has some importance."

"Do you think that the guards might look more favourable to two beautiful women ?" questioned the captain

Red was watchin' them; it was obvious they had a plan. He didn't know how they thought they would get past all the guards, or where they thought they might go. He just knew that he was going to get them. Neither the girl nor the big man knew he was there, and that was how he liked it. He was going to surprise them. Kill them. He cursed the day he had ever decided to snatch them.

Zoë swayed her hips and smiled in satisfaction when she saw the bodyguard's eyes widen. Beside her she noticed River copy her gesture exactly to attract the other man.

Behind them they heard the unmistakeable noises of a fist fight break out. It appeared that the Captain's diversion was working.

The noise of the brawl intensified. The bodyguards passed them, moving forward to assist with stopping the fight. Zoë brought up her knee to catch her target's face while River stiff armed the man passing her. The two men taken care of River and Zoe picked up their weapons and headed down the hallway toward the control room.

As they systematically swept the hallway, River indicated with a nod the room to the left of them. Zoë had been unsure about takin' half-way crazy girl with her, but had to admit that so far River had held up well, was making a good partner.

Cautiously Zoe opened the door observing the lights were off. She was startled when the door was jerked from her hand and the lights came on blinding her.

"Well ladies" the man sitting behind the desk was pointing a gun at them, two other men surrounding them "welcome to my office."

"You run this place?" questioned Zoe her gaze steely.

"I own it, built it, and run it. Perhaps you could tell me what you and your friends" he gestured to the screen where they could see the captain and Book brawling, "hope to achieve by this?"

"You snatched our friends, bought yourself a pack of trouble when you did that."

"The hun dan that's cost me a lot of money and the pretty girl, they're your friends?" He growled at her nod. "You deserve to die then."

"Nobody deserves to die" said River raising her gun and shooting so fast that everyone in the room was caught by surprise. Zoë recovered first, shooting the man to River's left as the girl ran to the console.

River's fingers flew over the console tapping in directions. She turned to Zoë, her face lighting up with a smile. "Power off."

"Alright girl, now we gotta run."

Jayne hoped that Kaylee would be finished soon and they could get movin' again

He was worried that he might not have enough strength to get them out there if it took much longer.

He had never felt so sick before. At first he thought that his fever and such were a 'fection. But it'd been too long, and he was too sick for that. Maybe the tranqs had had bad chemicals in them, were poisoning his system.

"Nearly finished Jayne" Kaylee's voice broke into his thoughts just as the hum from the electrics stopped.

"I didn't do that" Kaylee was panicked

"Don't matter, let's run." Jayne raised a rifle to his shoulder and headed through the gate, Kaylee following.

Their dash caught the nearby guards by surprise and although both fired, the shots missed their targets. The shots attracted more attention from both guards and port security who had come running when the power went down.

"Keep ya head down and stay close to me Kaylee" Jayne yelled over the gunfire handing her a handgun.

She nodded following him as he ducked behind some cargo crates. "Are we trapped here?"

"Maybe for awhile"

They both ducked reflexively as another barrage of gunfire sounded and a voice yelled "Jayne, Kaylee?"

Jayne grabbed Kaylee's arm to prevent her standin' up. "That you, Mal?"

"Me and Shepherd Book, we're coming in, don't shoot us."

When the captain and Book reached them Kaylee couldn't contain herself any longer, standin' up and flingin' herself at them to hug 'em.

Jayne was standin' up slowly hardly believin' that the crew were here when he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and felt somethin' slash into his stomach.

He heard yellin' and gunfire as he fell, felt Kaylee at his shoulder hands clutchin' at him frantically, then everythin' went black.

Piao liang pretty


	12. Chapter 12

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me twelve drummers drumming

Kaylee glanced over at Jayne as he stood up; he was lookin' so pale, so sick, she needed to get some help for him. Her eyes widened as she saw someone come out of the shadows lungin' at Jayne, slashin' him.

"Jayne" she screamed his name in fear as he fell.

Whirling, without thought she lifted the gun she was still carryin', and for the second time in her life she shot someone. She'd shot a man and this time it hadn't been an accident. But she didn't care, didn't care 'bout nothin' as she rushed forward.

Dimly Kaylee was aware of shoutin' and gunfire. But it was all back ground noise as she frantically clutched at Jayne's shoulder calling out his name when she saw the blue eyes closin'.

She heard footsteps and saw other hands reachin' for Jayne and swung around ready to defend him. "Easy Kaylee" the captain cautiously took the gun from his mechanic "we gotta get Jayne to Serenity."

Mal was concerned for Jayne and worried about Kaylee.

His mechanic had shot a man dead. No accident this time, it had shook him to see the swiftness of her response to danger. It wasn't like sweet, shiny Kaylee at all. She was in shock after seeing what happened to Jayne that was for sure.

Jayne had been bleedin' all over the shuttle floor, the look on Zoë's face telling him all he needed to know of the big man's chances. It didn't seem fair that Jayne had made it through the kidnapping and the hunt only to die when he and Kaylee were just about to be rescued.

Kaylee had not taken her eyes off Jayne since his had closed back on the gorram moon. She had sat in the shuttle watching every move that Zoë made to help him and was now hovering over him as he lay on the bed in the infirmary. Maybe she'd be better off someplace else.

"Kaylee let Inara take you to get cleaned up. Then the doc can examine you when he's through fixing Jayne."

"No. No, I ain't leavin." Her response was almost frantic. "I'm not leavin' him here."

About to argue the captain was deflected by his second in command "Think you had better let her stay sir. Kaylee and Jayne they been together, only them, for more'n ten days. They're dependant on each other right now. Besides if Jayne does wake up who do you think he'll be looking for?"

"Alright, she can stay. But Kaylee I want Zoe and Inara to clean you up a mite. Look you over for any injuries and such."

"I ain't hurt. Jayne saw to that." Her lips quivered slightly "He looked after me good Captain."

"I know mei mei. I know." He gave her a gentle push toward Inara who opened her arms to hug Kaylee to her.

Simon was so conscious, even while working on Jayne's injuries, of Kaylee standing there being ministered to by Inara and Zoë. He could hear both women's sotto voice comments as they cleaned her up and checked her over.

Why had he been so slow to see how fine she was, how beautiful? Why had it taken so long for him to act upon his feelings for her?

Wash was right. A few half-hearted remarks and almost kisses didn't amount to much. Jayne's all out attempt to protect Kaylee did.

The mercenary who Simon thought had no heart and no soul, particularly after his actions on Ariel, had proved himself to have both.

Simon's focus on River, curing her, saving her, had meant Kaylee came second in his thoughts. Not so Jayne, he was so intently focused on Kaylee, they'd seen that the last few days, that nothing else came first.

And Kaylee was the same. She was hardly noticing anyone else in the room she was so intent on Jayne. She hadn't taken her eyes off the man since they'd bought him into the infirmary. Simon realised he didn't need to worry about his and Kaylee's relationship anymore, because they didn't have one. He stretched his back and stood up.

"Doc" Mal looked up as he saw the medic straighten "what's the verdict?"

"The knife wound is not as deep as I thought; Jayne must have been pulling away when it cut him. Even though he's lost a lot of blood, normally a wound like this would hardly slow Jayne down; he'd be out of my infirmary tomorrow."

"But" prompted Wash.

"But the poison in his system has been slowly killing him." He turned to the mechanic who'd made a small sound of distress. "I'm surprised he has survived this far. Of course Jayne does have a phenomenal resistance to most medicine and Kaylee said she pulled the dart out pretty quickly. Perhaps Jayne didn't get the full dose. I've administered the antidote and if he wakes up over the next few hours he should recover completely. There's every hope of that, I think the thing that would encourage him to wake up most is your presence Kaylee."

Kaylee stood staring out of the infirmary window listenin' to the quiet breathin behind her. What if Jayne didn't wake up, what would she do? What if he did wake up and not want her? She'd die; she'd never thought that she would think that 'bout a man, but she did.

Jayne had protected her, watched over her, and comforted her, just like it was the natural thing to do. She wanted that for always. She wanted him for always.

The feelins' she'd had for Simon were tepid compared to what she felt for Jayne. There'd be no sittin' back waitin' this time she swore.

Kaylee wished the man would wake up so she could tell him all that, watch his reaction. She turned back to the bed to check on him and saw his eyes start to slowly open.

"Kaylee?" Jayne turned his head to look for her.

"I'm here" she moved closer so she could touch him and realised that he wasn't properly awake yet. His eyes weren't clear and he was still sleepy. She sighed, she could wait.

"Can ya sing me that song?" his voice sounded rusty

"Song?"

"Pretty one ya been hummin'. Like to drive me crazy."

"Oh, sure." She'd give him anythin' he asked for, she was that far gone.

Kaylee cleared her throat and began to sing unaware that the whole crew were outside listinin' in.

Jayne had finally got to hear Kaylee sing that song. It was just as pretty as he thought it would be and she had looked right beautiful singin' it, all happy and such

He lay back on the bed in the infirmary thinkin' it was 'bout time Kaylee came back to talk to him again. He heard footsteps approachin', but it weren't her. Sounded like a herd of cattle but was really Wash, the Captain and Book.

"We've come to escort you to the feast" announced Wash grandly wavin' his arms about.

"Christmas dinner." Explained the Shepherd to Jayne's confused look.

"Needs all three of us to get you there" complained the Captain

:"Well don't take me then."

"Gotta. Kaylee's gonna be there. And we've cooked a turkey"

"A turkey," Jayne licked his lips. "Best come then."

As they helped him down to the common area and a seat at the table, he noticed all the decorations hangin' around. "Ain't they the ones Kaylee bought?"

"She was set on a Christmas celebration, so we're givin' her one."

Mal was startled by Jayne's unexpectedly happy reaction to his comment. He gave the captain a genuine friendly smile and stated "She deserves that."

Wash interrupted the moment, "I did the decorations. Do you like the decorations?"

"Girl provided direction, no decorations possible without direction."

"Hey…"

Jayne didn't hear any more of Wash's yammerin', didn't hear or see anythin' 'cept Kaylee.

She was standin' in front of him all dressed up in a green dress that ai ya really fit her, showed off all her curves. Her pretty hair all done up on top of her head, fingernails and toenails painted, Kaylee looked good enough to eat. But she wasn't sayin' anythin' though, and she was actin' real nervous.

"Ya look real beautiful Kaylee" he offered, noticin' for the first time that the rest of the crew had left the room. "Why'd everyone leave?"

She shuffled her feet "Wanted us to be alone, I guess."

"We've been alone for two weeks."

"Yeah, but I never told ya," Kaylee had her talk all worked out, but one look at Jayne and every thought just flew out of head. She took a deep breath "That I found out that I just wanted you for Christmas. Not all the decorations, or the celebration, just you."

Jayne reached out and pulled her into his lap where she belonged. "Ya got me for always bao bei, thought ya knew that."

"Guess I do now" she said snuggling closer, her head on his chest. "Guess I do."


End file.
